Sonic Underground
Sonic Underground (French: Sonic Le Rebelle) is an animated series co-produced by DIC Productions L.P. (which was owned by Disney at the time) and Les Studios Tex S.A.R.L. It is the third Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, and also the last one produced by DiC; it follows a main plot separate from all other Sonic the Hedgehog media, where Sonic had two siblings, Sonia and Manic, that were collectively part of a royal family who were forced to separate from their mother, Queen Aleena, upon Robotnik's takeover of Mobius due to a prophecy told by the Oracle of Delphius. This is similar to Sonic SatAM, except dark elements and mature adolescent themes are cut down in a format for younger viewers. It first aired in France from 6 January to 23 May 1999 on TF1, and then premiered in the United Kingdom on 2 May 1999 on ITV and finally in the United States in the syndicated children’s block BKN Kids II on 30 August 1999 and ended on 22 October 1999. The show ran only for one season consisting of forty episodes. It was the first Sonic the Hedgehog television series to be sold on the iTunes Store. Episodes Coming Soon! Development Sonic Underground was originally produced to help gain interest in the Dreamcast. It is often claimed that SEGA contacted DiC Entertainment to make a new Sonic cartoon, which would help gain interest in buying their new console, the Dreamcast. Sonic Underground started production in early 1997, around the same time the development of both the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure had started. The show bible was written as early as March 1997. The show was publicly announced as early as December 1997. When the show was in development, two episodes per week were produced, and the writers felt that they were not given enough time to "tie everything together" in the plot, being limited to a three-part "Origins" saga for coherency. DiC used cattle calls to generate episode plots. Periodically, about twenty unaffiliated writers were brought into the studios to learn about the established characters and brainstorm possible plots for episodes, after which about one or two would be selected. While it was once believed that 65 episodes were made of which only 40 aired, Ben Hurst, a main writer from Sonic the Hedgehog (dubbed SatAM by fans), who was also involved in Sonic Underground's production, stated in a chat at the Sonic Amateur Games Expo 2008 that only 40 were conceived and produced. The results involving Sonic and his siblings reuniting with Queen Aleena have since been incomplete, leaving the audience completely unsure since its cancellation. Trivia * This is the second animated appearance of Knuckles. The first being the 1996 OVA anime movie. ** This is the only DIC cartoon that features Knuckles. * Similar to the changes made for Super Mario World because of the new rule for children's television that was made at the time, concepts in this show completely differs from the original 1993 Saturday morning series due to stricter guidelines, such as darker themes are reduced and devoted to humor and show tunes, every female characters (including Sonia) are completely clothed to avoid female controversy, depicted ongoing teen intimacy is cut to infrequent interactions since the staff felt it was more targeted for the older audiences, and Garry Chalk replaces Jim Cummings as Dr. Robotnik due to Cummings made Robotnik sounded too frightening for younger viewers. * Sonic, Manic, and Sonia are all voiced by Jaleel White. * This is the only Sonic cartoon not to feature Tails. * This is the second Sonic cartoon that was syndicated on a Disney-themed channel, which aired on Disney XD in 2012. The first being Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, which aired on Toon Disney between 1998 and 2002. * This, along with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, are the only Sonic cartoons that have been reissued on box set DVDs after DHX bought rights to most DIC cartoons since 2012. * To date, this is the final American Sonic cartoon made. Category:Sonic Underground